ATLANTA, July 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Georgia electric cooperative Flint Energies recently earned first place for its website in the 2014 Cooperative Communicators Association Communications Contest. CCA is a national organization of 350 communications professionals dedicated to fostering excellence in communications with their cooperative members.

Flint Energies, the 38th largest electric cooperative in the nation, was among the first to engage members online when it launched its website in the mid '90s. At the time, the site's primary features included a series of energy efficiency modules and a first-generation, self-service home energy audit developed by Apogee Interactive. Flint continues to be one of Apogee's premier clients in offering new ways to communicate and serve its members online.

Today, in addition to real-time outage maps and online bill pay, other newest-generation functionalities of Flint's award-winning website (www.flintenergies.com) include "responsive design" technology and a new energy efficiency app called "My Weather." Responsive design enables a website to automatically resize itself to fit the computer or mobile device used to display it.

The new My Weather app displays the current local weather, the 7-day forecast and the daily dollar impact of the weather on a household's energy use. A "virtual" thermostat in the app also shows members how much they can save for each degree they adjust their thermostat. Other energy and money saving tips are also provided. During the first two months Flint's website included the My Weather app, the website experienced over a 50 percent increase in web sessions.

Flint's current website design, responsive technology, My Weather (WeatherInsights™) app and over a dozen specialized energy efficiency applications on the site were developed by Apogee.

"We count on our website to communicate information quickly, accurately and in-depth to our members," said Marian McLemore, manager of public relations for Flint Energies. "Apogee's Web technology is robust and reliable, and their team is highly creative -- everything we need to help create positive online member experiences with inviting designs, sound energy efficiency tools and user-friendly navigation," she said.

"We're honored to be a part of Flint's long-standing commitment to offering exceptional online services and information to their members," said Brian Jackson, web services manager for Apogee. "Rather than resting on any laurels, they're actively looking for ways to communicate more and better on the Web. We're delighted to be a partner in this process," he said.

Apogee Interactive is the leading provider of online energy analysis and customer engagement applications to electric and gas utilities across the US and has developed more than 200 utility websites. The company's applications are providing over 56 million consumers with accurate and reliable energy efficiency guidance, recommendations and utility program options.

Founded in 1993, APOGEE's energy analysis applications are currently in use by more than 650 utilities across the US, reaching millions of consumers daily. APOGEE's clients span a wide range of leading investor-owned, public power and cooperative energy companies including Marietta Power & Water, Southern Company (SO), Jackson EMC, Cobb EMC, NOVEC, Con Edison (ED), NSTAR (NST), American Electric Power (AEP), Entergy (ETR), the SMUD, TVA, and Salt River Project.